10,000 fay fay recipes

Hot sausage and mirliton casserole is the New Orleans Creole classic: chayote squash baked with Italian sausage, bell peppers, bread cubes, mozzarella, and fontina. A holiday-table staple.

Garlicky black pepper shrimp and black-eyed peas is Low Country Southern cooking in one skillet: bacon, holy trinity, bay-scented peas, and wine-splashed shrimp finished with cracked pepper.

This is a very colorful and tasty arrangement of marinated and then skewered and grilled vegetables and fish. The marinade, called chermoulla, is a blend of fragrant seasonings, oil, and lemon juice. In this version I've suggested my favorite vegetables for kebabs. You should choose your own favorites; some other good choices are eggplants, mushrooms, and onions.

Big-batch Texas-style chili with ground beef, cumin, coriander, and a dash of cinnamon simmered for hours in tomato sauce and juice. No beans, all meat, feeds a crowd.

Authentic Cantonese lemon chicken with crispy deep-fried bird, tangy lemon-ginger sauce, black mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. A citrus-bright Chinese dinner that beats takeout.

Cincinnati chili: a thin, fragrant ground beef sauce spiced with cinnamon, allspice, and cumin, ladled over spaghetti and topped with shredded cheddar, raw onion, and oyster crackers. The Ohio classic.

Pit-master style Brunswick stew with smoked pulled pork, roasted chicken, okra, lima beans, and corn simmered in homemade stock. Low and slow for hours, packed with smoky, tangy heat.

A southern living take on stuffed peppers. Crab, crawfish and smoked sausage stuffing.

Pumpkin cheese tart with a gingersnap-oat crust and a marbled cream cheese-pumpkin filling, finished with warm caramel sauce. A lighter take on pumpkin pie that actually holds its own on the holiday table.

Hy's Georgia chain-gang chili: a three-meat marathon chili with burgundy-marinated beef, ground pork, and poached chicken, simmered three hours with three kinds of chiles, beer, and Sauterne.

Meatless Cajun jambalaya with black-eyed peas, bell peppers, zucchini, and rice simmered in a smoky paprika-thyme tomato broth. One pot, big Louisiana flavor, no meat required.

Hearty six-bean soup with lima, white, black, chickpea, pink, and kidney beans simmered with vegetables, fines herbes, and chicken noodle soup mix. Topped with Parmesan and tomatoes.

Crispy pan-fried tuna cakes drizzled with a tangy ginger-yogurt sauce and topped with fresh papaya-lime salsa. A light, tropical spin on seafood cakes ready in 40 minutes.

Long, slow simmering of meat and herbs produces the base for this incomparable sauce.

Authentic Ukrainian borscht from Kiev with beef chuck, ham bone, oven-roasted beets, cabbage, potatoes, and prunes for subtle sweetness. Topped with sour cream, dill, and crumbled bacon. Serves 12.

Cajun-spiced shrimp simmered with the holy trinity, fresh tomatoes, apple juice, and fish stock over rice. This New Orleans-style skillet dinner brings bold bayou flavor to your table in 40 minutes flat.